


Cherry Curls

by M3zzaTh3M3z



Category: Widdershins (Webcomic)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Crush, F/M, Fluff, Hair Brushing, Harry is soft, Pre-Slash, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, but not as soft as Sid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-08-20 04:15:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16548698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/M3zzaTh3M3z/pseuds/M3zzaTh3M3z
Summary: After a day of bounty hunting leaves Harry and Sid covered in mud, Harry decides it'll be easier to just cut off her hair than brush it out. Sid, who has been admiring Harry's hair for a very long time, has another idea.





	Cherry Curls

**Author's Note:**

> My second Widdershins fic! I don't know exactly timelines but this happens at some time after Sid works with Harry but before the Lust throwdown. I am only mildly projecting my own love for Harry's curls.

Above the hiss of the engine and the chatter of passengers filing into the carriages, the conductor’s voice rang out across the station. “All aboard!”

Sid raced down the platform clutching a pair of tickets, a trail of splotched footprints in his wake. “Harry! I’ve got them!”

“Just in time,” Harry replied and plucked one from his hand. Despite her best efforts, her suit was still splattered with mud and gunk, just like Sid’s own. At least her face was wiped clean, but she still earnt a disapproving look from the conductor as she boarded the carriage. Gren bared her teeth just enough to warn him against any comments and stuck close to her mistress’s tails.

When Harry and Sid had first caught a train together, Harry had been forced into a pink dress to blend it with all the rich folk enjoying the grand opening of the express line. She had detested it. Now, in her dirty suit and exhausted from the day’s adventure, she was much more at home. This was the Harry Sid knew and – well, he didn’t like to go there.

“We won’t make a mess,” he promised the conductor as he passed, but the glare only darkened.

Harry strode along the corridor until she reached a compartment she was satisfied with and yanked open the door. “In here.”

“I’ve got some handkerchiefs in here somewhere,” Sid said, rummaging through his bag. “We can sit on them so we won’t get the bench dirty and –“

Harry threw herself down regardless. “We can wipe it afterwards.” She picked at a piece of dirt on her sleeve. “Good thing you sat on the sidelines, Gren. Never would have got all this out your coat.”

Gren gave a small whine of agreement, before curling up to sleep on the floor.

 “If I’d known we would be wading through a bog I would have bought better shoes,” Sid said, sitting opposite. His socks still squelched with every step but he kept grinning. It had been another thrilling day.

It had seemed an unusually simple job from the Bounty Hunters’ office. Some wizard had died and left a challenge in his will, with whoever was able to solve them winning his prized magical possession, etcetera, etcetera. Wizard’s liked that stuff. Almost every part of the puzzle had been solved by the family, except for a seemingly impossible maze, and so the task had fallen to them.

Gren’s keen nose made short work of the maze, but Sid soon realised the amulet in the middle was fake. Harry, with her head for puzzles, noticed the maze was a map, which led them to a box in the middle of a bog. They’d had to dig for it, but Sid could sense this time it was real. He was itching to open the case and find out what exactly was inside, but that wasn’t their job.

“That maze was rather inspired, wasn’t it?” he said as he bounced his feet in time with the rocking of the train. “Infusing the entire thing with _Confusion._ Good thing Gren wasn’t affected by it. I wonder why? There must be studies on the effects of spirits on animals. I should look when we get back. Or have a bath,” he added with a laugh. He looked out the window. The sunk was lowering. “At least it’ll be too dark for anyone to see what a mess we are back in Widdershins.”

 “Nobody at the office will care,” Harry said. She reached up to tuck away a strand of hair and frowned as her fingers caught the matted dirt. “I should sort this out before it sets in.”

Sid forgot to breathe as she tugged her hair loose and cherry curls cascaded down. He allowed himself a second – two – okay, three – before tearing his gaze away and staring like he’d never seen the dales of Yorkshire in his life.

He could never fool Harry. “What?” she asked. From the corner of his eye, her reflection in the window tugged a comb through her hair. He hadn’t even known she carried one.

“Ah – it’s nothing,” Sid replied quickly. He didn’t need to see Harry’s expression to know she was unconvinced.

“Right.” Harry grunted as she made another stroke with the comb. “I’m only brushing my hair. I’m still decent.”

Sid flushed, the heat creeping around to the back of his neck, and pressed his forehead against the cool glass in search of relief. It just didn’t feel _proper_ to see her like that, but nothing Harry did was ‘proper.’ No reason for her to start now. Still, he had to ask. “You don’t mind me seeing?”

“I’m not talking to the back of your head all the way.” The sound of tearing hair came again and Harry gave a _tsk_ of irritation. “And it’ll take that long at this rate.”

Sid settled back to face her and tried not to smile at the picture build up over successive quick glances. Her wild curls had expanded, matted with dirt and bits of foliage, thick enough to hold the comb by itself. In fact, that’s what it was doing right now, as Harry dug through her pockets with both hands. She looked a mess, Sid thought, more dreamily than he’d ever dare let on. She looked beautiful.

“Damn. Left them at home.” She looked up at Sid. “Got any scissors?”

Sid stared, now in confusion rather than admiration. “What for?”

With a grimace, Harry yanked on the comb. It barely moved. “It’ll be quicker just to chop it off.”

“You can’t do that!” Sid yelped, then corrected himself. “I mean, not on a train. It’ll get bits everywhere, and it’s rocky so you’ll do it unevenly.”

“I’ve got a steady hand.”

“Yes, but…”

It was selfish of him, he knew that, but Harry’s hair was gorgeous. If she truly hated it then he wouldn’t have interfered, but this was just her natural irritation and impatience shining through. There was a problem – her hair was tangled. Option one – solving the problem with a brush – hadn’t worked. Option two – removing the problem – was up next.

Maybe there was an option three.

“Let me help,” he said before he could think better of it. “If I can untangle it by the time we get there you can cut it. But let’s try this first.”

Harry’s brows nudged together. “I’ve had enough of spirits for today.”

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean infusing the brush with something,” Sid said. “I don’t even know what I would use! _Order,_ maybe? Or something like _Vanity?_ I wonder if there are commercially available infused beauty products already? I’ve never seen any, but it’s hardly my area of expertise.”

“Neither.”                                                                                          

“I just meant let me have a go. It might be easier from behind. Besides, if you make a mess of it yourself it’ll only give Miss Verity more to say,” Sid added with a grin and Harry’s eyes darkened at the idea.

“Alright.”

Sid scooted over before she could change her mind. Seconds ago it had seemed a good idea, but now he was actually sat beside her Sid realised what he was about to do. For months he’d idly wondered about touching Harry’s hair, but to daydream and to do are very different things. “I’d better take off my gloves,” he said. The bog had left dark stains that he could already tell would never wash out. With two quick motions, he peeled them off and shoved them into a pocket. “Could you pass me the brush?”

Harry grabbed the handle and pulled it out of the knots, either not noticing or not caring the tangles it left in its wake. “Here,” she said. She didn’t quite meet Sid’s eyes.

“Thank you. And if you could just turn that way.” It was almost like preparing for a trick, but no performance was half as nerve wracking as this. The smooth handle of the brush was slick under his palms, but he held it tight and tried to sound natural. “You’ll let me know if I hurt you, won’t you?”

“You won’t,” Harry said. No doubt at all.  

Sid swallowed and took a bunch of her hair into his hands. It was sticky, still damp from the swamp, and he picked out one of those fuzzy seed things. Not exactly how he’d imagined.

He moved slowly and methodically and he wondered if Harry was surprised, but for all his hyperactive nature he knew how to take his time when it mattered. Under his careful hand the knots came undone, each brush leaving a shinier wave in its wake as he worked his way through.

Outside, the sun dripped low and brilliant colours streaked the sky. Harry seemed content to sit and silently watch them, but Sid barely spared them a glance. Not when he had all the colours he needed right in front of him. The orange and pink light set off highlights in Harry’s softening curls; he scooped up a handful on impulse and ran his fingers through, marvelling at the weight, the ringlets, the shine, the unabashedly feminine beauty Harry otherwise kept at arm’s length.

“You done?”

Sid let go. “Yep!” he squeaked. “All clear!”

Harry reached back and ran her own hand through her hair, her fingers ploughing through from underneath, drawing out the strands until they fell in a rosy curtain around her shoulders. “Cheers.” With a few sharp motions, her hair was bundled up in its usual ponytail again. For a moment Sid could have sworn the tips of her ears glowed red, but when she turned to face him again her expression was normal.

“See?” Sid giggled, though he wasn’t sure what at. “No need for scissors after all.”

“Apparently not.” Harry touched her hair again and gave a small smile. “Thanks, Sid. Really.”

Sid fiddled with a button on his jacket as his face grew warm, like every other time Harry had a kind word for him these days. “It’s no problem! Anytime!”

“Hm.” Harry’s eyes darted away and for a moment Sid feared he’d said the wrong thing, but then she looked back to him again. “Maybe I’ll take you up on that.”

 

****

 

If Sid found himself looking through the window of a lady’s accessory shop the next week, that was purely by chance.

If he discovered they do indeed make _Order_ infused hairbrushes, that was merely chance again.

And if he bought not one of them, but a small regular comb he could fit into his pocket – well, that bit might have been deliberate.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed! <3 I love these two they're so cute so I hope I did an okay job with them :3 All kudos and comments greatly appreciated (even just a smiley face is good!) 
> 
> If you have tumblr, say hello to me [@buggerup-busters ](https://buggerup-busters.tumblr.com/)  
> which is my Widdershins fanblog :)  
> ****
> 
> If you enjoyed this fic, you might want to check out my others. I have fics in the [Supernatural,](https://archiveofourown.org/users/M3zzaTh3M3z/works?fandom_id=27) [ Osomatsu,](https://archiveofourown.org/users/M3zzaTh3M3z/works?fandom_id=7048385) [ Ace Attorney, ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/M3zzaTh3M3z/works?fandom_id=1034737) [ Haikyuu,](https://archiveofourown.org/users/M3zzaTh3M3z/works?fandom_id=758208) [ Portal, ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/M3zzaTh3M3z/works?fandom_id=83491) [ Boku No Hero Academia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/M3zzaTh3M3z/works?fandom_id=3828398) and [Widdershins fandoms, ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/M3zzaTh3M3z/works?fandom_id=2511207) with more being added all the time.


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